Real reason Dave Hughes’ 2Day FM radio show was axed

Radio insiders were shocked when 2Day FM announced it had suddenly axed Hughesy’s radio show. Now we can reveal why they did it.

The rumour mill is in overdrive after Dave Hughes’ Sydney radio show was suddenly axed on Wednesday night.

2Day FM released a statement just before 6pm announcing its breakfast show, hosted by Hughesy, Erin Molan and Ed Kavalee, had come to an immediate end.

The announcement was particularly surprising because it came midweek and well before radio’s “killing season” (when shows are typically axed), which usually starts in September or October.

It was also odd that the trio, who had been hosting the 2Day FM breakfast show since 2021, did not say goodbye to their listeners on air.

Ed Kavalee, Dave Hughes and Erin Molan started hosting the 2Day FM breakfast show in 2021.

So what really happened?

News.com.au understands that 2Day FM bosses had long been pressuring Hughesy to move to Sydney full time.

For years, the popular comedian had been commuting to Sydney from Melbourne, where his wife and kids are based.

Insiders have suggested Hughesy’s wife had, quite understandably, grown tired of the arrangement and wanted her husband to spend more time in Melbourne.

Hughesy informed executives at Southern Cross Austereo (the network that owns 2Day FM) that he wouldn’t be relocating to Sydney permanently, and therefore could not commit to another year on breakfast.

To make matters worse, Hughesy, Ed and Erin had a shocker in the latest round of radio ratings which were released last month.

The trio recorded just a 3.6 per cent audience share, a long way behind Sydney’s FM market leaders Kyle and Jackie O (14.1 cent) and Jonesy and Amanda (8.1 per cent).

Dave Hughes and Erin Molan. Photo: Supplied,

News.com.au understands that Dave Cameron, Southern Cross Austereo’s Chief Content Officer, finally decided to bite the bullet and called a snap meeting with the breakfast hosts after Wednesday morning’s show.

He informed them one by one that they had made the decision to axe Hughesy, Ed and Erin.

The trio were told they could return for one final show on Thursday to say goodbye, but ultimately the hosts decided against it.

SCA has announced that the Hit Network’s Jimmy Smith and Nath Roye (from The Jimmy & Nath Show) will fill in on 2Day FM breakfast for the remainder of the year, with a new breakfast show for 2025 to be announced at a later date.

Another failed show for 2Day

Hughesy, Ed and Erin is the latest in a long line of 2Day FM breakfast shows that have come and gone.

In fact, the 2Day FM breakfast slot has been dubbed “the poisoned chalice” of radio ever since Kyle and Jackie O defected from 2Day FM to KIIS FM at the end of 2013 and took the majority of their listeners with them.

2Day FM has cycled through seven different breakfast shows in 10 years, all of which failed to lift the station’s ratings.

The breakfast line-ups that have failed on 2Day FM since 2014 are:

2014: Merrick Watts, Jules Lund and Sophie Monk with Mel Brown

2015: Dan Debuf and Maz Compton

2016: Rove McManus and Sam Frost

2017: Em Rusciano and Harley Breen

2018: Em Rusciano, Ed Kavalee and Grant Denyer

2019: Grant Denyer, Ed Kavalee and Ash London

2021 to 2024: Dave Hughes, Erin Molan, Ed Kavalee

Originally published as Real reason Dave Hughes’ 2Day FM radio show was axed